Twins: A Different Life

Potions

Harry's first week at school was surprisingly brilliant.

As expected, he quickly rose to the top of all his classes, as he would accept nothing less from himself.

He had been avoiding James Potter carefully, but there had been a few close calls. The closest encounter occurred when James finally cornered him and tried to grab him. At that moment, Harry found himself lifted into the air and set on his Uncle Moony's hip. Moony protectively held Harry close as he shot James a dangerously fierce look, which caused James to back away quickly.

Harry didn't blame him; he had seen the wolf emerge in his uncle. He noticed Moony's eyes beginning to glow amber and his lip curling back to reveal his teeth. Harry was quite certain he, too, would make a hasty retreat in that situation.

When Friday finally arrived, Harry was practically bouncing with excitement for his Potions class. Although he knew the lesson wouldn't be much of a challenge for him, he couldn't shake the feeling that it had been far too long since he had spent time in the lab.

First-years were not allowed to use the labs on their own, and Harry hoped he could speak with the Professor about getting that rule amended. He loved to brew potions, and the thought of only being able to do so during class was horrifying.

His dorm mates, who had seen him poring over numerous Potions texts—some of which they didn't even know existed—understood what was making him so anxious. Draco finally grew so annoyed with Harry's pacing and muttering under his breath that he forcefully sat him down to wait for the rest of their classmates.

The blond was quite excited to be taught by his godfather but also felt rather nervous. He knew his godfather had high standards for all his students, and he worried that he might have forgotten everything he had learned.

Harry's bright mood was noticeable to anyone with a keen eye. At the Head Table, there was someone observing the boy with a somewhat questioning expression.

"What has your Godson deviating from his usual perfect calm?" Severus asked Sirius, who was sitting next to him.

"I would say the same thing affecting your Godson," Sirius replied with a grin. "Harry has been so enthusiastic about Potions all week that I thought he might explode if this day didn't come soon enough."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, he's an absolute Potions fanatic. He's been going on and on about it all week." Sirius told him, "I think you might have a little admirer in him."

"Admirer?" Snape repeated, and Sirius chuckled.

"You should hear him talk about your work in Potions. He has all of your books, even that ridiculously rare one on obscure Potions insights, and he's been sharing random facts about your work along with how amazing it is." Sirius grinned, "It's quite adorable, really."

"Do you know if he has brewed before?" Severus asked.

"Yeah, he has. It's his absolute favourite subject." Sirius answered.

"I shall have to watch him during my lesson, then."

"I don't believe you'll be disappointed," Sirius assured. Severus scrutinized the boy in question, questioning whether Sirius was being overly generous or if the boy was genuinely talented.

Harry had finally managed to calm himself enough to eat with proper decorum. Afterwards, he took out his current Potions text. He had memorized most of it since he was already familiar with much of the information, but he made sure to memorize the sections he didn't know. He hadn't heard much about the Professor's teaching style, only that he favoured Slytherins and was known to be the strictest teacher in the school.